Citi Cards Back in the Card Game

We are back in the ThankYou Points Game thanks to Citi cards and 5 points per dollar spent in certain categories. Here are the cards and details.

Citi Thank You Preferred Card

Note: 6000 point sign up bonus on $300 spend, No limit on points earned, No annual fee, no interest on BT (there will be a BT fee) or purchases and 5 points for the first year on gas, groceries and drugs.

Note: 8500 point sign up bonus with $250 spend and paperless statements, no annual fee and 5 points the first year for dining and entertainment

Citi Forward Card for College Students

Note: No cosignor required. (Not everyone will be approved but you’ll have a better chance for a first rewards card here), 1000 points sign up with first purchase and paperless statements, 5 points on restaurants, books, movies and music and a bonus for paying on time and staying under your limit.

Why Thank You Points?

For those that don’t remember them last time around, you can redeem them for gift cards, travel certificates from Marriott, Ritz Carlton, and Hyatt at $100 per 10,000 points giving them a value of 1 cent each. And remember you can be earning 5 points per $ or 5% return on your spend. There are other gift cards available as well best redeemed at the 10,000 point level.

You can transfer TY points between members but the must be used within 90 days of the transfer.

The Travel Reward Center provides airline tickets, hotel rooms, car rentals etc at a value of one cent per point. The tickets you receive also earn frequent flyer miles.

And Last But Not Least: These are not Chase Cards nor American Express Cards. We have been pounding those two for months now and many of us have just too many inquiries with those lenders. Citi may even pull from a different credit reporting agency in your state. Check creditboards creditpulls database, your own credit report or the credit pulls database thread on Flyertalk for information on who pulls Citi from your state. SC is a big Experian state and I’m full of Experian pulls. It looks like Citi is Equifax so I have a new game to play in SC.

I’m going for two cards and racking up gift certificates for hotel stays. I need the nights and at 5 points per $$$, I’ll make decent headway in a hurry.

If you are a heavy spender in any or all of these special categories, you will be earning 5 cents per dollar for the first year, which is far better than anything out there now.

Rick Ingersoll
Rick Ingersoll is one of the world’s experts on frugal travel and flying free and the author of The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. A retired mortgage banker from Traverse City, Michigan, he has retired to Hilton Head Island,...All Articles | Follow on Google+

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What were the codes you used and how many points was each worth? One of the problems I have with lists such as that on FT is that many of the codes don't have values associated with them.

Which "New Member/Welcome Back" bonus is the best? Are they all equivalent?

How often can codes be recycled for a new stay?

wes

very helpful post Rick, thanks

TexasYankee

Mrs Texasyankee just now used my free room fromm the 2 night stay at last years Chicago DO when staying at the HI Elk Grove Village. That is another $100+ saved due to the Frugal Travel Guy!!!

Lyssa

Now this is only for paid stays, you can't earn any bonus points on reward stays, correct? Thanks!

Jason

This should be interesting. I've got 13 different promo's showing up in my account and just registered for a ton more. I should get about 15k point just for the one night stay that the wife and I are doing tomorrow night, and if the others show up that number may skyrocket. This should be fun

Anonymous

I would also like to confirm that the codes are only able to be used for PAID stays (Not reward nights), correct?

Thanks!

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